Malawi went to the polls Tuesday with the incumbent president and his predecessor vying for a second chance to govern the southern African nation that is facing economic turbulence.
There are 17 names in the running for president - but the race is considered to be between outgoing Lazarus Chakwera and and his predecessor Peter Mutharika.
Pastor Chakwera, 70, and law professor Mutharika, 85, have campaigned on improving the agriculture-dependent economy that is dealing with inflation topping 27 percent.
Long queues formed at several polling stations across the mostly rural country hours before they were due to open at 6 am (0400GMT), with some delays reported.
The election is also for seats in parliament and local wards. Polling stations close at 4 pm and ballot counting starts immediately.
With a winner requiring more than 50 percent of votes, a run-off within 60 days is likely.
Chakwera and Mutharika drew large crowds to colourful final rallies at the weekend.
With around 60 percent of the 7.2 million registered voters aged under 35, activists have been mobilising to overcome apathy and get young voters to the polls.
Costs of living have surged 75 percent in 12 months, according to reports citing the Centre for Social Concern, a non-governmental organisation.
Two seasons of drought and a devastating cyclone in 2023 have compounded hardships in a country where around 70 percent of the population lives in poverty, according to the World Bank.
Chakwera, from the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) that led the nation to independence from Britain in 1964, has pleaded for continuity to "finish what we started", flaunting several infrastructure projects.
"There have been complaints about the cost of living, the lack of resources, food scarcity," he told a rally on Saturday in the capital Lilongwe, an MCP support base.
"I have heard all of them and I have taken your words to heart. We will fix things," he said, blaming people in his administration for mismanagement.
Days earlier, he announced a massive drop in the high cost of fertiliser, a major complaint across the largely agricultural country.
"I want to rescue this country," Mutharika told a cheering rally of his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the second city of Blantyre, the heartland of the party that has promised a "return to proven leadership" and economic reform.
